A Pig Boy and His Dog

A Pig Boy and His Dog is the 13th episode of Season One of the show The Critic. It is the 13th overall episode of this show.

Official DVD Summary
"Inspired by her son's portly figure, Eleanor writes a children's book called 'The Fat Little Pig' and Jay becomes a a laughingstock."

Plot
While walking home from a Pinocchio-esque film, Jay spots a lonely puppy in the street. Jay names him Tiny, takes him home and feeds him. While searching for food, Jay receives a phone call from Margo, reminding him that he's coming over to her house for dinner the next night.

On the following night, Margo and Eleanor are discussing what college Margo should attend when Eleanor realizes she's wasted her life. She discusses this with her friends, and is even unfazed when a hot grocery delivery man shows up. She goes to Franklin for advice, and he turns to Wilson--or, rather who Franklin believes is Wilson from Home Improvement, but is actually a scarecrow. A frog that's on the scarecrow's shoulder ribbits three times, and Franklin tells Eleanor to "rivet, rivet, rivet," to which she screws in rivets on a construction site.

One night, acting on Doris's advice, Jay takes his parents square dancing. Eleanor doesn't enjoy it, making her feel more depressed than normal. Jay then gives her an idea: Writing a book.

Eleanor does so, but struggles to find an idea until she gets inspiration from Jay moving about in the fridge. Eleanor writes a book called The Fat Little Pig, making a pig character based on Jay. The book gets published and instantly becomes a hit, much to Jay's dismay.

Meanwhile, Jay tries to get the now-grown Tiny into obedience school, but the teacher refuses. At home, Jay finds Marty reading Eleanor's book. Jay becomes ridiculed throughout the city, and later at work. Jay vents to his mother about his frustration, but Eleanor guilts him instead.

Later on at Phillipsland, Jay is spotted by a crowd of fans, but he shames them, causing them to attack him. Eleanor realizes that Jay was right the whole time. She creates a new book in which the pig is killed off, and Jay enjoys it. Jay later offers to give Tiny to her since she ordered him to sit and he complied.

At the end, the Shermans are riding various animals and Jay thanks the audience for watching (or if they're tuning in to Home Improvement, one of the shows that followed The Critic's timeslot).

Characters

 * Eleanor Sherman
 * Jay Sherman
 * Vlada Veramirovich

Locations
New York City

Trivia

 * Movies featured in this episode:
 * Pinocchio (featuring Jeremy Hawke as Boogov the Roach, Bob Dylan as Pinocchio, Arnold Scharwzenegger as Geppetto, and Robin Williams as the Beige Fairy).
 * Jurrasic Park (as a nightmare sequence involving Jay and his overgrown dog Tiny)
 * Jaws (also part of Jay's nightmare sequence)
 * Robo-Clapper (spoof of Robocop)
 * Barney the Dinosaur: The Motion Picture (though it wouldn't be until four years later that an actual Barney the Dinosaur movie would be released)